KPMG in India in collaboration with NIIT Imperia announced the launch of Advanced Certificate Program on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The six week Certificate program which commences on 2 December 2009 is designed to assist companies and individuals on the forthcoming convergence from Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The program will see KPMG's senior professionals use NIIT's modern virtual classroom formats to deliver the training. The training will be conducted simultaneously across several cities using NIIT's Synchronous Learning Technology. This will allow practicing professionals and in-job professionals to be in a classroom close to their place of work. In addition, they can manage their day to day work since there will be only one day of training in each of the six weeks. This well paced program is designed for better understanding and absorption of the transition process and will help the practising and on-job professional in implementing IFRS smoothly and on time. Indian accounting and finance fraternity and those others who are interested to enrich knowledge on IFRS transition may log on to www.niitimperia.com for further information about the program.

Commenting on the launch of the Advanced Certificate Program on IFRS, Jamil Khatri, Head of Accounting Advisory Services, KPMG in India said, 'We are pleased to come in association with NIIT Imperia during this important transition for the Indian accounting fraternity. Through this collaboration we foresee participants to gain not only the conceptual knowledge of IFRS but also the practical perspectives that KPMG's professionals carry through years of experience. We have seen very good interest in this program and look forward to interacting with executives across the country during the IFRS training sessions.' He added, 'The training covers critical IFRS concepts along with case studies and will culminate with an exam at the end, which will enable participants to obtain the certificate.' Shraman Jha, Head, NIIT Imperia remarked, 'We are pleased to extend our offerings to now include Advanced Certificate Programs on IFRS, by KPMG- for finance professionals. Through this alliance, IFRS Training will be offered in 19 cities simultaneously, over the NIIT Imperia network, thus helping professionals overcome the challenges of mobility and time and gain from the insights of KPMG's professionals.' Corporates, accounting & finance professionals would need to swiftly understand IFRS and assess the implications in their work environment. This is because current Indian accounting practice & standards differs from IFRS in several areas of accounting norms. Firstly, the accounting for M&A activities and for financial instruments is largely driven by the fair value concept under IFRS, a fundamental shift from the historical cost accounting under Indian GAAP. Secondly, there are subtle but important differences in several other areas, for example, the concept of control over an entity, capitalization principles relating to property, plant and equipment, accounting for gratuity plans, the way reportable segments are identified, etc. Thirdly, IFRS lays equal emphasis on qualitative disclosures in addition to the quantitative disclosures that Indian companies are well used to. All stakeholders, from promoters to finance executives, from investors to analysts and from government agencies to bankers need to become aware of the critical differences.